USA > Alaska > The wonders of Alaska > Part 8
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IO2
DEER AND MOOSE.
'grows an outer coat of coarse hair, alternating with black and white, the combination giving silvery yet brindled tints. Specimens of this animal are quite rare near the coast and its skin is very highly prized, the Indians even refusing as high as one hundred dollars in gold for a single skin. Where one of these skins is taken, the shaman of the family to which the mighty hunters who took it belong, demands that it be hung up in front of the "big house " of the village, not only as a trophy of the prowess of the entire family, but as a totem or talis- man for success in the chase.
Next in importance as regards size is the moose, or elk, as it is variously called. All the Rocky Mountain region and the coast line ranges from Ore- gon northward, at one time contained large herds of moose, and it is not more than a quarter of a century since they were so plentiful in parts of Montana and Idaho that one could scarcely make a day's journey without encountering pairs or herds of them. It is the largest of the deer family, and the specimens found in the Arctic exceed in size those found in any other portion of the world. As an average, a full- grown moose in Alaska has dimensions of about six feet in height and measures from seven to eight feet from nose to tail, the tail being about eight inches in length. The weight of the animal runs from twelve hundred to fifteen hundred pounds, inclusive of the horns, which range in weight from seventy pounds up to one hundred and fifty. The moose
is not a pretty animal. He is as awkward and clumsy and apparently as much out of place as a creature of grace in the deer family as a rich coun- try uncle in a family reunion in a city mansion.
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DEER AND MOOSE.
But like the country uncle he is useful. His meat is "jerked " and affords winter food for the natives; his hide, hoofs and horns are articles of commerce, and used, when he was in the prime of his plentiful- ness and before the inroads of civilization made him scarce, to constitute an important factor of trade among the Indians, trappers, traders and commercial organizations which extended from the Atlantic to the Pacific seaboard and all the great marts of the world. The elk is still occasionally found in the higher latitudes of the continent even, however, as low as that of Maine; but the tread and snorting of the iron horse, the repeating rifle and the westward march of Empire have all but obliterated the animal, and its last refuge is in the romantic wilds of Alaska.
The buffalo, so far as magnitude of structure and stature are concerned, is about contemporaneous with the moose. In Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Wash- ington the animal is invariably called the elk. To the northward, especially in British territory, it is called the moose.
Buffalo are occasionally seen in Alaska, but they are smaller in size than the noble animal that in great herds used to roam the vast plains of the north- west, and which, but for the fostering care of the Government, would be as nearly extinct a species as the mastodon itself.
Various kinds of deer are also found in Alaska. The white-tailed and the black-tailed deer are abun- dant in the interior of some of the islands of the Archipelago, and the musk-ox, which northwestern hunters and trappers associate with the deer species, is occasionally met with. Another member of the
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FUR BEARERS.
deer family, the most graceful and beautiful of all- though, sad to say, the flavor of his meat does not come up to the beauty of his appearance-which is met with in Alaska, is the antelope, or "gazelle."
The industrious and pains-taking beaver-that thorough emblem of the maxim that, by the sweat of thy brow thou shalt earn thy bread; that complete exponent of labor as the main factor in the struggle for existence-is frequently found in the streams of Alaska, but the hunt that has gone on, year after year, for its furry envelope has diminished its numbers so, that ere long it will be but a relic and a memory, as it is to-day in Montana, where once it flourished and where its cunning architecture could be seen on almost every stream.
The Alaskan country, isolated as it has been to the world in general, has not been free from the inroads of the trapper and hunter; in fact, in the pursuit of fur-bearing animals, it was a fruitful field long before more accessible localities had been worked for furs. While Alaska is to-day rich in fur-bearing animals, both land and amphibious, the evidences are apparent that over two centuries of trap, bow and arrow and gun have all but decimated many species once plentiful, but now represented only by occas- ional specimens. The chamois (a wild goat, but familiarly known among the early mountaineers as the mountain sheep) was plentiful in Alaskan ranges, as it was in the Rocky Mountains not so many years ago; but the swift and unerring bullet of the hunter overcame the remarkable agility and cunning of this animal. Specimens are occasionally seen from the coast and from the banks of the rivers, sadly contemplating the smoke of the steamer and
,
Britton & Rey
RUSTIC BRIDGE OVER INDIAN RIVER, SITKA. From a photograph by INGERSOLL, St. Paul, Minn., 3511.
105
MINK AND WOLF.
wondering at the sound of the whistle that echoes through its native forests, but they are so wary and make themselves so scarce on the approach of man that it is not considered worth while to hunt them.
The mink, that pretty little animal, whose fur some thirty years ago was as fashionable for a lady's outer habiliments as the skin of the seal is to-day, roamed Alaska in what seemed inexhaustible num- bers; but the stern demands of fashion, that hand- maid of commerce, have almost entirely obliter- ated this animal. Moreover, the mink is out of. fashion in the make-up of a stylish lady's garments. Only a few years ago the mink was quite common in Montana, and it is less than thirty years ago that they were trapped on the forks of the Yuba in California.
The Siberian wolf is found in Alaska. The story- books represent the Siberian wolf as a fierce and dangerous animal, running in packs, maddened by hunger and ready to attack and devour anything and everything; and almost every school-boy has read the thrilling stories of the pursuit of sledges by packs of wolves in Russia, when the frightened occu- pants would cast out their robes and other valuables to stay the progress of the maddened and all-devour- ing fiends. The Siberian wolf, as found in Alaska, is like all his cousins in the wolf family, a coward. He will run at the sight of a human being, and the sound of a shot from a gun, even if he be not pinged by the ball, will give him a celerity in his escape, and his alacrity in avoiding danger is phenomenal. The saying " runs like a scared wolf," applies as well to the fabled Siberian wolf as it does to the humble coyote of the great North American plains. The
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WOLF AND FOX.
pelts of all the various species of wolves in Alaska find a market, and that of the Siberian is most valu- able. Among the species are Canis Lupis, or the European wolf, now almost extinct in most parts of Europe. It is a close relative of the Siberian wolf and is found in Alaska. It is not a ferocious animal and is easily tamed, and the geneology of the Eskimo and other domesticated dogs in the Arctic is traced to this animal. In its native state, however, it is hunted for its hide and is still quite common. The · coyote (prairie wolf) is likewise found in Alaska, but is not even distinguished by being represented as a totem, let alone being hunted for its hide and fur. It is a sort of Pariah in the wolf family, is both a coward and a thief and, unfortunately for itself, pos- sesses no attribute which makes its component parts valuable to man, and it therefore enjoys an immunity not shared by other wolves. When the country becomes more settled and grazing becomes one of the industries of parts of Alaska, as it will in time, the coyote will find a price set on his head. In Alaska are also found the gray wolf, the white wolf, whose skins are valuable, the Oregon giant wolf (so-called), and the silver wolf, which bears a strong resemblance to the silver-gray fox.
Various kinds of foxes are found in Alaska, con- spicuous among which is the silver-gray fox, which is hunted for its skin, which forms quite an item of trade with the natives. The most prominent of the vulpines, however, is the Arctic fox. The fur of the adult is of a clear, glistening white and is very beau- tiful. The fur of the young is of a dull leaden color, and the natives never kill these animals until they have attained their maturity, and the fur has assumed
107
ERMINE.
its peculiar snowy gloss, when the skins command a good price at the trading posts. .
Mephitis Americana, commonly known as the pole- cat, is one of the prettiest little animals known to the North American continent. As to him we may use the aphorism, "handsome is that handsome does;" but comment on his attributes, aside from his looks, is not necessary. The pole-cat is, nevertheless, a valuable fur-bearing animal, and his skin is in high demand in Europe for robes of royalty. The ermine, whose fur has for centuries been a token of rank and royalty, was plentiful, according to native traditions, generations ago, and specimens of this pretty animal are still met with in Alaska. Naturalists aver that the ermine and pole-cat are first cousins, but certain it is that, with the practical extinction of the ermine, the fur of the pole-cat has taken its place, and many a judicial robe that passes for ermine is simply pole- cat. This animal is very common in Alaska.
The porcupine is an animal who makes himself somewhat too unpleasantly numerous in Alaska. One might be out looking for stray glaciers, or try- ing to get a shot at a mammoth of the Pliocene period, and he would be just as apt to come across a curious looking ball, and when he got too close to it the vicious little varmint would open his battery of quills, and the investigator would think he had struck a new thing in botany in the shape of a live and kicking member of the cactus family. Of other animal life (quadrupedal), it is only necessary to say that Alaska contains nearly all the fur-bear- ing animals known to the Temperate and Arctic Zones, from the smallest rodent up to the highest mammalia.
108
ORNITHOLOGY.
This is not a work on Natural History; it is merely descriptive of a land of comparative isolation-full of romance and mystery and offering a magnificent field to the student of Nature, to the scientist, to the trad- der, to the curiosity-seeker, to the traveler either on pleasure or enterprise bent, and full of possibilities, commercial, progressivé, geographical and develop- mental. The resources of Alaska, other than so far referred to, will be treated in other chapters, and though the literature of Alaska is rich and exhaus- tive as already written, the effort in these chapters on the possibilities of Alaska, will be to show that the half has not been told.
The ornithology of Alaska is not specially remark -. able, exclusive of the fact that near the coast and far up along the banks of the rivers even in the winter time, and amid the vegetation at the foot of glaciers are found many kinds of song-birds and birds of beautiful plumage known to more southern climes, among which are the canary, thrush, linnet, vesper- sparrow, wood-pecker, humming-bird, whip-poor-will and other small feathered bipeds. The majority of the birds found in Alaska, however, are acquatic and migratory, such as duck, goose, curlew, sand-thrill, crane, diver, pelican, land-gull and sea-gull, snipe and the shag, a member of the cormorant family and so plentiful in the Pribyloff Group that the flocks at times darken the sky. It is asserted that the summer home and breeding ground of the wild goose, duck and other migratory-acquatic birds com- mon all over the American continent is in the far North and particularly in Alaska.
Among the most interesting animals of Alaska, and in fact the most important in a commercial
109
AMPHIBIA.
sense, are the amphibia; the most conspicuous of these dual-lived animals being the sea otter, the river otter, beaver, walrus, sea-lion and the fur-seal. The beaver has heretofore been mentioned in these pages, and the river otter and the beaver are now scarcely more than relics of the past. The walrus is still an important land-marine animal for its ivory, oil and hide, and is hunted by both native and white fishermen. The walrus belongs to the seal family, but its proportions are the largest of any member of that tribe; its fur is coarser and closer and its skin thicker, being sometimes as much as two inches in thickness. Under the skin it carries a coating of fat, which wise Nature seems to have made as a pro- vision in all the marine and amphibious animals of the Arctic regions as a protection from cold. The walrus attains a growth of from twelve to fifteen feet in length and eight to ten feet in circumference. Specimens are taken at times which measure twenty feet in length, twelve feet in circumference and in weight over two thousand pounds. The tusks are fashioned by the natives into various articles of household use and into weapons, and are bartered and sold to ships' crews and officers and at the trad- ing posts. Arctic sailors of an artistic turn do some beautiful engraving on the walrus tusk, and this art , has no doubt been learned from the natives, who are apt in the work, but whose representations are crude and barbaric. Walrus ivory is a standard article. of trade the world over, also walrus oil, as are the marine oils of the Arctic region. The uses of this oleaginous material are too multifarious for mention in this work. The flesh of the walrus is eaten by natives and ships' crews, and the skin tans a heavy,
IIO
AMPHIBIA.
porous leather over an inch thick, and is used for various purposes in Russia.
The sea-lion-a member of the seal family, closely allied-also is common in Alaskan waters and extends far to the southward. On the ocean coast of San Francisco and up into the harbor almost to the mouth of the Sacramento River, these amphibia are found. Their land habitation is on reefs of rocks, and they sel- dom approach the shore. They are protected by State law in California, notwithstanding that they devour large quantities of salmon and other valuable food-fish; though sometimes hunters are permitted to lassoo specimens for museum purposes. The object of this protection is that the seals on the Seal Rocks, just off the Cliff House, a prominent place of San Fran- cisco resort, may be kept as a show for strangers visiting the city, and among sights exhibited to the tourist in San Francisco are the sea-lions. These animals are not hunted extensively in Arctic waters, as their fur being sparce and stubby has no commer- cial value; their skins are too porous for leather, and they do not carry enough blubber to make their oil profitable, though the natives use the skin for house roofs, and from its viscera fashion various household utensils.
But the chief of all the animals of Alaska for num- bers, richness of fur and commercial importance is the - fur-seal. As a matter of fact, notwithstanding the great material resources known to exist in Alaska, the seal industry next to the fisheries is of the most value.
Another great resource of Alaska at the present time, and one which, with proper precautions and care, will last indefinitely and perhaps perpetually,
III
AQUATICS.
is its fisheries. The principal species of fish found in Alaskan waters are cod, salmon, halibut, herring, tomcod, ulikon, mullet, trout and suckers. At the present time the most important of these in a com- mercial sense is the salmon fishery, and next to that the cod. Including the halibut, these are the only fish that are largely used for trade purposes, though of late the ulikon has been caught in large numbers and the oil extracted. The ulikon is said to belong to the same species as the menhaden of the New England coast, which are taken in enormous quan- tities for their oil, and the residue is dessicated and used as a fertilizer. The herring fisheries of Alaskan waters have not, so far, been extensively worked, though the fish are exceedingly numerous and of fine flavor and are said to strongly resemble the famed Yarmouth bloater, both in taste and size and in general appearance.
The candle-fish, of which large numbers are caught, are almost a mass of oil, if such a term could be properly used to convey the intended idea. They can be found in the stores of San Francisco, but are not highly prized, as they are too rich. The natives preserve them and use them for torches, as when lighted they will burn like a candle; hence the name, " candle-fish."
CHAPTER IX.
RESOURCES.
ALASKA'S GREAT WEALTH. -- EXTENT OF HER GOLD AND SILVER MINES .- VALUABLE DISCOVERIES OF MINERAL WEALTH .- THE ABUNDANCE OF COAL AND TIMBER. - VALUE OF HER FURS, FISHERIES, ETC .- THE GREAT TREADWELL MINE .- DEVEL- OPMENT OF PLACER MINING. - INDUSTRY AND GROWTH OF HER CANNERIES. - PROSPECTS FOR A BRIGHT FUTURE.
HE material resources of Al- aska, though they can only as yet be said to be in mere progress of development, are many and varied. The most important can be summed up as follows: skins, oils of land and amphibious animals, tim- In the Silver Bow Basi ber, coal and mining in silver, lead, iron and copper, which is now carried on extensively.
Recent mineral exploration Has added much that is new to the known material wealth of the Terri- tory. At Glacier Bay and elsewhere, has been found traces of silver, iron and gray copper, and plumbago that may equal the Siberian. Garnet is found on the Stikine River, but seems of little value. It is blasted out of black slate which bears it, and is full of blemishes. Galena ores are quite common, but no
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....
CITY OF JUNEAU FROM THE HILL, TREADWELL MINE, AND DOUGLAS ISLAND IN THE DISTANCE.
From photograph 7802, by PARTRIDGE, Portland, Ore.
II3
TREADWELL MINE.
extensive mining and reduction of them is carried on. Mica, asbestos, lime-stone and red ochre have been discovered in several localities, but have been mined to no great extent and some not at all. Great deposits of native copper exist at various points and several mines are worked for this mineral on Prince of Wales Island.
The principal gold mines of Alaska are on Douglas Island, southeastern Alaska. The island is about eight miles in breadth. The ledges lie along the eastern side of the island, from one thousand to one thousand five hundred feet. The only mine thus far developed sufficiently to be on a paying basis is the famous Treadwell mine. This mine, though in a well-defined true fissure vein, is more like a great quarry of gold quartz and is probably the most extensive solid body of that precious material in the known world. It is true the ores are of low grade, ranging from six dollars to eighteen dollars per ton, but such is the immensity of the vein, the facility of extraction and the "freeness " of the ore for simpli- fied extraction that the rock is extracted and worked at so small a cost as to leave a large margin of profit in the aggregate. The quartz mill on the Treadwell is the largest in the world, containing the enormous number of two hundred and forty stamps under one roof. The machinery is run by water-power furnished by a ditch which taps several mountain streams. Douglas Island, like Baronoff, upon which Sitka is located, is seamed all over with aurif- erous quartz and has been prospected and staked off into mining claims by the industrious pros- pector. Auriferous pyrites are also found on Douglas Island and milled for gold. Besides abun-
II4
MINING ABOUT JUNEAU.
dant indications of gold and some silver all along the coast as well as upon the islands, the mountains of Alaska abound in gold-bearing quartz, and the extent of these deposits, it is claimed by experienced miners, will be equal to any similar discoveries in California or Australia.
Capital is but just being attracted to this field. Eastern and European capitalists are largely inter- ested, and there are several companies in San Fran- cisco organized for the purpose of developing the mining industry in Alaska. Active work has been going on for some time in the Silver Bow Basin, four miles from Juneau, where hydraulic mining has been successfully and profitably carried on, and extensive plans are on the tapis for the tunneling and sluicing of these claims. These mines are owned by Thomas S. Nowell, of Boston, a man of excellent judgment, who is now driving a tunnel, a half a mile in length, to tap the Basin one hundred feet deep. F. St. Q. Cock- burn, an experienced miner, is the superintendent of this undertaking, which promises a rich reward.
The gold and silver product of the Territory, which has entered the market through the express com- panies and private hands, amounted to $2,230,000 in the year 1889.
A short time ago it was believed by many intelli- gent miners that silver could be found here in paying quantities, but the comparatively recent opening up to the Sheep Creek region proved differently. Prom- inent among the various mines discovered here is the Silver Queen which exhibits enough ore in sight to warrant the erection of a ten stamp mill, concen- trator and other working conveniences. It is esti- mated that five hundred thousand dollars worth of
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COAL FIELDS.
silver ore is awaiting extraction at this time, while in the upper and lower levels some two feet of fine ore is shown up.
Coal of a superior quality has been found on the Kenai Peninsula, and a company is now engaged in the work of prospecting and developing the mines. This company owns nearly four thousand acres of coal lands, and it is estimated that the two principal veins will yield 2,500,000 tons per quarter section. The coal lies in such large and compact bodies that the cost of mining is small, compared to that in other coal fields of the Pacific Coast. Coal is also found and mined in quantities on Admiralty Island. Large veins of coal exist on the shore of Cook's Inlet, which were known to the Russians who mined it for Colonial use, at Port Graham. Immense out- cropping seams are conspicuous here as elsewhere on the Inlet, and some coal is found on Unga Island. Experts say that there is sufficient coal here to sup- ply the whole Pacific Coast with a better and cheaper article than is now on the market. Accessibility is a great advantage to the development of these fields. Petroleum is reported in some localities, and the presence of coal would seem to give color to the report. Iron is known to be abundant; a fine mar- ble has been found in plenty, and about the many volcanic peaks and craters an abundance of sulphur exists.
When it is recollected that Alaska, by reason of her geographical location, has been under the ban, because neither her climate nor natural possibilities were known and understood; that she was sneered at, at the time of our acquisition, as an iceberg bor- der to an expanding map; that she had to grow
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MINERALS AND TIMBER.
slowly into our esteem as the prejudices engendered by ignorance were removed by conscientious tourists and explorers, it becomes a matter of astonishment to note the rapid development of the mining and other resources of Alaska.
In the discovery and exploration of minerals Alaska bids fair to realize the prophecy of Professor Muir, who was certain that this region would prove to be one of the richest gold fields of America. It was also his belief that the great mineral vein from Mexico to British America continued through Alaska to Siberia. Mining developments are daily strength- ening the correctness of this theory. Not only has gold been found in numerous localities such as Sitka, Cassias, Douglas Island, Skeena, Silver Bow Basin, Sheep's Head and Bernier Bay, but prospectors have returned from the head-waters of the Yukon carrying specimens of silver, copper, nickel and bituminous coal.
The timber resources - of Alaska are as yet un- touched. In numerous places along the coast there are huge groves of cedar and pine; juniper and birch of large proportions are found further inland. The presence of immense logs in the drift that comes down the rivers is evidence of great forests further up, and most anywhere inland pine, spruce and cedar can be found five and eight feet in diameter, and a valuable timber which is not found south of Port- land Channel but in very small quantities, is a cedar said to be impregnable to the toredo. No extensive explorations for timber have yet been made, but it is more than probable that forests will be found which will place timbering and lumbering among the lead- ing industries of Alaska.
II7
THE SEAL LEASE.
Sufficient has been said in this work about the necessity of protecting the fur-seal to imply some- thing of the value of this source of Government revenue, an important element of American trade and industry. It is the second product of the country in assessed value, fish coming first, while mining at present stands third. The fish values include, besides the actual pack, the bone, oil, ivory and other products of the fish and amphibia.
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